The site plan for Harbor Waterside Bar Pub — a restaurant that William F. Caprara plans to open in mid-May — was approved Tuesday by the Henderson Town Planning Board. Exterior and interior renovations at the two-story building on County Route 123 have been completed, said Mr. Caprara, who is a co-owner of F.X. Caprara Auto Sales. The waterfront building formerly operated as the Harbor Inn. Photo by Stephen Swofford, Watertown Daily Times.

The site plan for Harbor Waterside Bar Pub — a restaurant that William F. Caprara plans to open in mid-May — was approved Tuesday by the Henderson Town Planning Board. [Read more…]

WATERTOWN — Signaling the start of construction at the corporate park on outer Bradley Street in the town of Pamelia, a dozen dignitaries scooped soil with shovels Thursday morning at the future site of the Honda dealership planned by F.X. Caprara Auto Sales. [Read more…]

Clarkson University’s entrepreneurship program honored

Clarkson University’s entrepreneurship program has been named in the top 15 in the nation, according to the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. It ranks 14th on both publication’s 2014 list of “Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Programs” based on surveys of business school administrators at more than 2,000 institutions.

The lists are based on schools’ level of commitment to entrepreneurship inside and outside the classroom, the percentage of faculty, students and alumni actively involved in entrepreneurial endeavors, the number of their mentorship programs, and funding for scholarships and grants for entrepreneurial studies and projects, according to a release from the university.

Clarkson was also ranked first on U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 list of schools that produced the largest percentage of interns among the class of 2011, with 86 percent. The university reports that 96 percent of students in its class of 2012 who used the campus Career Services Center said they were placed in their field of study or career aspiration in the first year after graduation. [Read more…]

F.X. Caprara Auto Sales has announced it was chosen by California-based American Honda Motor Co. to become a certified dealer.

After learning Tuesday it was selected for the franchise, the Watertown-based company already is making plans to build a 32,000-square-foot dealership in the area, co-owner Charles G. Caprara said. The dealership likely will open by March, he said, but a location has not yet been selected.

Two years ago, F.X. Caprara applied to become a Honda dealership along with several competitors in the north country, after DealMaker Honda closed in 2010.

“There were a lot of dealers over the countryside in contention for this, and everyone was trying to get Honda in the north country,” Mr. Caprara said. “They looked at sales reports and profitability to make the decision, and we sell over 900 cars a month. I feel there’s a great market share for Honda here, and we’ve had the opportunity in the last 90 days to create two of the best loyalty groups — Harley-Davidson and Honda.”

The company bought Iron Block Harley-Davidson in Adams Center in June.

Building a Honda dealership here will create about 50 jobs to staff the location, Mr. Caprara said. The company will have to wait until the winter to start construction, he said, because its contractor is now busy constructing a Chevrolet and Ford dealership in Pulaski.

“We hope to be in the ground on the project after December,” he said. “This store will give us the opportunity to serve the whole north country, and we hope to retain the strength of loyalty that’s been here in the past to the Honda product.”

Waite Toyota dealership general manager Darrick N. Pleskach stands at the renovated service center on outer Washington street. The dealership, and most others in the greater Watertown area, are reporting brisk sales in the first six months of 2013. Norm Johnston/ Watertown Daily Times

Talk during the recession about the auto industry’s demise has vanished at dealerships in the north country, where sales began an uphill climb in 2012 and have gotten even stronger during the first half of 2013.

Auto dealers from Watertown say the turnaround in 2012 was buoyed by the so-called “full nest” of military troops from Fort Drum during the spring and summer. Unusually strong sales this year, they say, have been fueled mainly by consumers who were waiting for the economy to improve before buying, said Richard E. Weigand, vice president of operations for Davidson Auto Group. Davidson’s Chevy, Nissan and Ford dealerships have posted a 40 percent increase in year-to-date sales compared with the same period in 2012. [Read more…]